“When we pray it is a dialog not a monologue, God's voice in response to mine is the most essential part.” - Andrew Murray
Prayer is our communication with God. When we pray, we connect to Him. And when we pray for our children, it allows God to move on our children’s behalf. We should consider prayer as a privilege as a parent. Nothing you do for your child will be more important.
Mark Batterson said, “Prayer turns ordinary parents into prophets who shape the destinies of their children.”
Prayer will change the course of your child’s life. I remember a question that was asked to me once, “Why pray? Millions and millions of people don’t pray and they are doing just fine in life.” It caught me off guard, I thought for a moment and answered with the story about Abraham, how a prayer saved a family and a generation.
Genesis 18-19:29. Here is the quick JCBID (Jenn Cupicha Breaks It Down) version:
God was going to destroy the city Sodom and Gomorrah because their sin was very naughty. Abraham humbly pleaded with God that if there were even 50 righteous in the city, would he spare it? God said yes, even though his plan was to destroy it! Abraham must have known the character of that city because he kept pleading with God. Then Abraham busted out his inner auctioneer and started asking God, If even 45, how about 40, do I hear 30, then 20, and going once, twice, how about 10? Every iime asking if God would spare them and every time He answered, yes. Those were some bold prayers he prayed. Abraham wasn’t trying to barter with God, he was literally interceding! Interceding for a generation of righteous people to be spared in that sin-filled land. Our amazing God granted his request and found a righteous man hanging out in that very naughty land. Through Abraham’s cry to save the righteous, God brought Lot and his family out of the city before it was destroyed. As we dig a little deeper, we discover that Lot’s lineage is traced all the way to Jesus.
Prayer is powerful, and it can move the heart of God and change the course of a life. Sometimes all God wants us to do is ask. I know this because I have 5 kids. My kids have to ask to get something they want. Let me give an example: One day my youngest asked for a cookie, I said yes and gave her a cookie. The 2 younger kids heard her and asked for a cookie as well: they received a cookie too. A while later, the teens found out the younger sibling had cookies and they didn’t. Suddenly it came, ‘whine heard around the world.’ “Why didn’t we get a cookie??” My response was, “Well, you didn’t ask. I would have given you a cookie too but you never asked.” It saddens me to think that there are prayers that go unanswered simply because they go unasked.
John Wesley once said, "God does nothing except in response to believing prayer." Jesus told us in John 16:23-24, “In that day, you will no longer ask me anything. Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.”
God wants us to ask. James tell us this in James 4:2: “you do not have because you do not ask.” He wants you to ask! This doesn’t mean every prayer gets answered just because we pray it. Some prayers are a no or a not yet; it's not always a yes. But we will never know if we never ask. Let God hear you pressing and praying for your children, you can change a life and a generation, all you have to do is ask!
In His Name,
Pastor Jenn Cupicha
2 Chron 7:14 , Ps 145:18, Luke 6:12